1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gene encoding a class I collagenase, a vector containing the gene, a transformant containing the vector, a class I collagenase, and a method of preparing the class I collagenase.
2. Description of the Related Art
Collagenases belong to a hydrolase, and act on a collagen to decompose a peptide bond. These collagenases play an important role in biotechnology, for example, in a culture of an excised tissue or a cell. In particular, collagenases from Clostridium species are important because they exhibit a reactivity useful in protein engineering. It is known that collagenases from Clostridium histolyticum include the class I and class II collagenases, and that the class I collagenase has a high specificity to a naturally occurring collagen and the class II collagenase has a high specificity to a synthesized peptide. Further, a gene encoding the class II collagenase has been cloned.
Nevertheless, the structure of the class I collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum is not known, and the gene encoding the class I collagenase from Clostridium histolyticum has not been isolated.